ZetsuAi
by Hachi-miitsu
Summary: Angelic warriors, parental abuse, and a whole bunch of lovin'. Yup, just another day at the office.
1. Chapter 1

**Woohoo! Third fic. Who's on a roll tonight hahaha! Anyways, Don't own this one either. Still get a kick out of it though. LOL, whaaaaa? On with the storiesssss *-***

_**ZETSU_AI**_

**Chapter 1**

Setsuna grit his teeth as his mother's sharp hand fell. He chuckled mirthlessly at the irony of his situation. Sara his younger sister had taken flight. She had found another to love.

"Don't you laugh at me you foul, _incest ridden_ beast!"

She hit him again and again. He stood there and refused to cry out in pain or protest at her savage bludgeoning. Yes, he had loved his sister in ways that should not have been, but he would never force his feelings on her. He had loved her with everything he possessed. So he stood there and let his mother's hand fall, over and over again. Her words sliced through him like serrated knives.

"Get out! Get out and don't let me see your face ever again!"

Setsuna wasted no time. He bolted for the door as fast as his feet would carry him. Objects flew past his head. He ducked once, twice, but three times was the charm. The vase shattered as it crashed into the back of his head with force enough that it almost bowled him over. Setsuna didn't look back as he dodged his mother's ravenous shrieks.

His head rang. He couldn't see straight as he stumbled down the stairs, around the corner, and down the street. He gritted his teeth and tried to focus on the sound of his shoes slapping on the wet pavement. The rain was liquid ice, so cold that it burned. The wind whistled mercilessly in his ears.

Setsuna ran as far as his legs could carry him into the underbelly of Shinjuku. Soaked, and chilled to the bone, he collapsed into the nearest alleyway. Everything was fading; gray and blurry. He refused to cry though the taste of salty tears had already begun to sting the back of his throat.

Setsuna sat up and slumped against the wall. He thought of his sister. Her touch, her voice, her smell.

_Sara..._

Setsuna reached back behind his head and prodded gingerly at the wound. When he drew back his hand, the crimson of his blood ran off his fingertips in rivulets, watered down by the pouring rain. He couldn't even feel the pain. He was blessedly numb to everything.

He swallowed hard and shivered. He would not betray his sister. Sara had always been his mother's favorite.

A glint suddenly shimmered through the veil of steady drizzle, distracting him for a moment. Dully, he crawled toward whatever it was that was giving off the tantalizing glow. It was just a shard of glass from a broken mirror that was propped up beside the rubbish bins.

He picked up the fragment in a stupor. After staring at it for a moment, a fit of giggles took over his entire body. The cold piece was like a bit of himself.

Setsuna wanted to feel something. Anything. Pain was better than remaining numb. With deft, merciless movements he began slashing at every bit of exposed flesh on his body. Ah, so beautiful that sting. The zings were sharp as they bled freely.

Why was he was still alive?

Pity…

His blood was so red, so strangely alien.

If he could not love Sara unhindered then there was no longer a meaning in life. He suddenly felt blissfully free, weightless, as his thoughts became more scattered with his fleeing life force. It was a wonderful feeling.

Setsuna was getting so tired now. He wanted to curl up and sleep forever, right here, right now. It didn't matter that the wind was blowing fiercely, or the rain was bitingly frigid, he simply wanted to weep and sleep, scarred and alone as he was. The darkness closed in on Setsuna and gently forced his eyes shut.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Kaito ran down the street clutching the evening's stash to his chest, oblivious to the cries of protest passerby shot at him as he pushed his way through the thronging Tokyo crowds. All he was intent on was getting back home to purge himself of everything with this new drug that had cost him a small fortune. The silver-haired fella who had sold it to him said that it was fresh out of the labs in Brazil. It was said to be the best hallucinogen out there. It wasn't the easiest to obtain, so it must be good.

Best to take a shortcut. His decision prompted him into careening down the dark alleyway he came upon abruptly. If he cut through here it would save him a ten-minute detour. His thoughts were bowdlerized as he stumbled over something and fell. He looked back and noticed that a crumpled figure had caused him to lose his balance.

Probably a bum, he noted irritably. He cursed the comatose, broken shadow of the being, but lightning flashed with a sudden intensity that shocked Kaito into silence.

Fair, blond hair was plastered on the forehead; the dainty frame was bent at unnatural angles, blood everywhere. The Mudo boy. And he didn't look good.

Mudo, unawares to him had caught the affections of the elusive Sakuya Kira. Kaito himself had been focused on the latter for a while.

'_Maybe if Mudo were out of the way Kira would finally give me his attention.'_

Kaito smiled sinisterly to himself. He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and snatched his stash up off the ground. He turned to walk away, but something constricted in his chest, forcing him to his knees again. He clutched at the throbbing pain that encased his heart with his right hand, and cradled his stash with the other, breathing heavily.

The echo of a distant voice resounded in his head. He turned back around and saw an orb of light assimilate itself into the shape of a woman. She had thigh-length, brown wavy hair and was shrouded with a deep sadness. There was something odd about her though. Kaito regained his feet and lumbered back a step as he realized that she was translucent. She shimmered in the rain, like a distant reflection in a pool of water. The woman had the most beautiful, snowy-white wings. Like those of an angel. Three. Her ivory smooth skin and crimson eyes weren't a bad touch either.

Her eyes flashed at that instant, as if she had read his thoughts. She stood, not pleading, but proudly requesting. Her arm swung in a graceful movement and pointed at Setsuna. He suddenly understood. She smiled in silent thanks and disappeared in a final explosion of light.

Kaito stood blinking in disbelief. He wasn't even on the drug yet and he was already seeing crazy shit! It was all a hallucination. It must have been. Yet when he looked down at Setsuna's crumpled form he couldn't help but feel the nagging sense of obligation.

"Angel..."

The words left his lips in a whisper before he could stop it. Kaito kicked the wall in sudden irritation, before stuffing his stash into his pocket, and bending down to sling Setsuna's limp form over his shoulders.

"I'm putting forth the effort to save your sorry ass, so don't you dare die on me", he grit under his breath.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Kira looked up in irritation from his book. Who would be knocking at this hour? He got up from the couch—fully intending to give whoever it was an earful for bothering him this early in the morning—when another loud rap sounded, and the door suddenly burst open. Kaito tumbled through the threshold, borne down by the burden he was carrying.

Kira looked on in consternation as Kaito rolled the soaked mass of cloth and flesh off himself. The blond got up once again dusted himself off. He threw Kira a dirty look before stomping back out the front door, slamming it shut behind him.

He had muttered something like:

"...your responsibility now...did what I was charged to do..."

Whatever that meant.

Kira nudged the corpse with his foot. It rolled over and revealed Setsuna; shivering, and barely alive. Kira's eyes lit up immediately with insatiable anger. He scooped the boy up and swept off to his bedroom. He set the shivering shell down on his bed and set about cleaning his wounds with scrupulous care.

_'Kaito couldn't have done this, he's not stupid enough. So who would dare…'_

He picked up Setsuna's arm and was suddenly appalled with the caked blood he found. His pillow quickly became soaked as well, from the head wound. Kira wrapped that first before taking care of his wrists and the rest of his minor abrasions.

"Oh kid..."

He set his forehead against the other boy's. Setsuna frowned and whimpered. Kira smiled down at him and set their lips together gently. It was chaste and brief, but it still left Kira's heart pounding for more. Kami-sama, he had it bad for this kid. And to see his most beloved hurt left him simmering with hatred.

"...no Sara, don't go..."

Kira grimaced. He couldn't force his feelings on the kid. He loved him so he feared his loathing all the more. The boy nuzzled his pillow as Kira finished cleaning him. Now came the fun part. The kid had to be stripped of his wet clothes or he would catch a cold. Kira grit his teeth and reached forward.

The shirt came off without a hitch. He tossed it aside and started on the pants. He paused in a moment of horror as Setsuna contorted in his coma, as if about to awaken. But he just recoiled a little bit and scowled before his breathing evened out to signal his continuing slumber. Kira sighed in relief at the false alarm. He reached forward again and this time the pants came off smoothly too.

Setsuna looked so vulnerable as he was. Kira was much more used to the blond's fiery disposition. But right now as he slept, Setsuna looked like the child he really was. Kira laid down beside him and pulled Setsuna close, tucking the younger boy's head under his chin.

The brunette drifted off, while two sides of him warred with one another. On one hand, he was happier than he had ever been at finally being able to hold what was his. On the other, he was silently damning the one who had him.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Setsuna awoke with a very red flush branded on his face. The one whom he had considered a big brother was pressed intimately against him. He could feel every part of the older man's body, including Kira's throbbing groin through this loose fitting sweats. His skin was beautiful and unblemished, the sinfully long eyelashes casting shadows over his cheeks. His mussed brunette tresses framed his face like the finest of chocolate silks.

Unaware of his own movements, Setsuna reached out and stroked the older boy's face, admiring the way the light played softly over the older boy's flesh. His sharp intake of breath, or his feather light touch, perhaps both, had Kira's brown eyes snapping open.

Quicker and harsher than he had intended, Kira snatched Setsuna's wrist and had drawn it away from his face. His face softened with recognition a second later.

"_He mustn't find out."_

Alexiel's voice echoed into life.

"_Guard your heart zealously. Let no one touch it. You've pledged yourself to me. Do not forget…"_

Her voice faded again, but that didn't stop him as he grit his teeth. Damn these binding agreements. He had trailed and guarded the angel that his comrade now harbored for centuries now. He had seen her die many deaths, live many lives, and ultimately suffer at the hands of her own brother more than anyone ever should.

Their family feud had gone back many ages. It had all been over some dispute where Alexiel's brother Rosiel, had wanted her carnally. But they had been of the same blood. And she had loved another.

Kira had been that other. As a samurai, he had wandered through a forest, when he had come upon her bathing in a hot spring. She had not shunned him, but had invited him to bathe with her. He had, and thus, pledged his heart to her in a moment of foolish passion. The events that followed had bound his destiny to hers for the rest of eternity.

On the night of an arranged marriage to her brother, Alexiel had slashed her wrists in disgust to escape the agreement for the continuation of a pure angelic bloodline. She had taken Kira with her.

Rosiel had found their bloody bodies the next morning. Enraged he had committed Harakiri to keep his honor, and had chased zealously after her spirit ever since. They had adopted so many incarnations over the centuries, and yet Rosiel had been unrelenting. And so here they were, in the present day. As of yet, he had no idea where Rosiel was or what he looked like. But he had Alexiel…inside the body of the first one he'd fallen for ever since he pledged himself to her. Shit….

Kira sighed.

"Did I hurt you Setsuna? Are you alright?"

He was only met with a sharp intake of breath as he moved his leg. With a red tint to his face, he realized that he had just brushed up against the younger boy intimately, eliciting the gasp. He was wedged quite close together with his petite cohort.

He rolled over and left the warmth that they had shared between their two bodies, when he would have much rather stayed there to bask in it. In Setsuna…

He looked back and had to bite back a curse. Setsuna was bare, as he laid there in the morning light, a perfect balance of sprawled out and curled up. His face was also dusted with the same flush that plagued Kira, his lips parted and inviting subconsciously.

The older boy wanted nothing more than to go back to the bed and spread himself over Setsuna, so that he could feel him with his whole body again. He swallowed, pulling a shirt across his chest instead. Setsuna's throat went dry as he watched his upperclassman move around.

"Um…senpai? I need clothes." 

Kira bit back a comment about how he looked just fine without them and went to the bathroom to retrieve his kouhai's garments off of the heated towel rack. The two finished dressing in the most awkward of silences. Averting his eyes with evasive ease Setsuna worded his query carefully.

'_Ok. Finesse. Finesse is the key. Be nonchalant about it.'_

"S-senpai? I don't really remember much from last night. Did… did we sleep together…?"

'_Real finesse dipshit!'_

"No", Kira snapped.

Mentally, Setsuna kicked himself. Kira's reply was curter than he had wanted, but it got the younger boy to drop the subject. Kira softened.

"Look kid, let's just get you back home ok?"

Setsuna winced and Kira immediately stiffened. He hadn't missed the shadow that passed over the younger boy's features. Kira exhaled in exasperation and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"I have some running around to do in town today but since its Saturday, I'll come by and chill with you after I finish with my business, okay?"

Setsuna nodded and frowned again, swallowing in an unintentional gesture of anxiety. The prospect of having to go home and face his mother again made his stomach wrench violently. Maybe if he dawdled enough, he would miss her altogether and she would be at work, out of sight and out of mind by the time he meandered home.

At the whim of the moment Kira snatched Setsuna from the side of the bed and held him close. The initial shock of such an intimate action was quickly replaced with a comforted surrender. The blonde laid his head on his senpai's chest and let the steady song of a heartbeat wash over him.

They parted company stiffly to finish changing then Kira linked fingers with his kouhai, walking him home. By the time they reached Setsuna's steps Kira could barely restrain himself. He settled for snatching the younger boy's chin and forcing their eyes to meet. He let his gaze burn into Setsuna's before addressing him.

"Keep your chin up punk. I'll be back in a while."

Setsuna nodded emptily, then turned and began his ascent with slow plodding steps up the staircase. Kira walked away only looking back once. He grit his teeth in irritation. The faster he got this stuff done the faster he could get back to Setsuna. The boy in question got halfway up then turned to watch as Kira swept down the street with long graceful strides like that of a predator, while his trench coat whipped around him becomingly.

Setsuna's stomach clenched pleasantly as he remembered what it had felt like being snuggled so intimately up against that body. Wincing, he glanced down at his bandaged wrist, only now reflecting on the horrendous act he had committed. He brushed his hand over the bandages like a ghost's whisper, blushing profusely.

'_He's seen you naked…Kami-sama, stop it! You, my good man, are not gay!'_

It was then at that opportune moment that his inner voice reared its head.

_**Are you so sure about that?**_

'_Shut up! I'm not listening to you!'_

_**Liar. I'm in your head. You can't possibly ignore me. **_

'_Aaaahhh! Go away!'_

_**I can't really do that you know…**_

"Okay, I need to clean", Setsuna mumbled under his breath. "Gotta do something to ignore this thing!"

_**I heard that.**_

In a flurry Setsuna opened the apartment door and started his onslaught on the accumulated filth. He only noted wistfully that his inner-voice was in the semblance of woman.


	2. Chapter 2

**With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo there a moo, EVERYWHERE A MOO MOO x3 I hate that song, honestly. So, on with the story yeah? All rights and ~reservations~ lie in the hand of another, far worthier than that of I. Rinse, review, repeat please and. Kthx!**

**Chapter Two**

Katan watched his master pace back and forth, his own agitation slowly growing. The man before him was in quite a state because of his ever-vexing sister, Alexiel. Katan's wings twitched and he snapped to attention as his master called his name while in mid-stride.

"Katan! Why? Am I not beautiful, magnanimous? Why will my sister not entertain me for even an instant?"

Katan's arctic blue eyes flashed and he tucked a stray strand of his shoulder length silver hair behind his ear before answering.

"My lord, she doesn't even deserve you."

He had tensed for the blow because he had insulted his master's most fervent possession but nonetheless, it was harsher than he had anticipated and it was dealt with enough force to knock the angel off of his feet from his kneeling position.

Katan wiped the blood away from his lip and regretted for only an instant that he had withheld the real reason for Alexiel's absence. If Rosiel knew that she was dormant in a human body as he had been before Katan had found him, then the angel would rampage on the whole human race trying to find her, regardless of the steep cost to himself.

Katan, as a fellow angel, could not let the Regent of Heaven be so careless. The angelic ranks were in disarray and the Holy Lord was quick to anger at the slightest mishap. All this because the second highest in command was MIA. Heaven needed him but would not take him back if he had his sister in tow.

Rosiel was still seething, his wings flexed and his face flushed becomingly. Even at his worst, Katan thought, Rosiel was always the most beautiful with his waist length wavy silver hair and sparkling violet eyes. Rosiel bent down and cupped Katan's face in his lithe hands. His eyes softened.

"Did I hurt you Katan? I am sorry. If you hadn't come to find me like you always do, I would have been stuck in that human body, not truly myself. You are always there for me."

This said, Rosiel placed a chaste kiss to Katan's lips and helped the angel stand. Katan forgave his master. He could never be angry with him. His master could do no wrong.

Not with everything that Rosiel had done for him…he was of the higher ranks because Rosiel had plucked him from the lower ranks when he had been tossed away, of no worth to anyone. Rosiel had seen him and had taken pity on him. The inorganic angel had given him everything, and this would never be forgotten and could never be repaid.

"Katan… tell me I am beautiful."

"You are the most beautiful, my Lord Regent."

In a flurry of feathers Rosiel whirled around and around, much as a ballroom dancer would to music that was only in his head

"Ah ha ha! I know it true for everyone tells me so", he swooned in ecstasy.

Snapping back to business, Rosiel sent him away. Katan obeyed and shut the Sanctuary door behind him. He was about to make his way down the hall towards his quarters when a pair pale of arms encircled his waist and held him back.

"Oh look what I've caught, a fallen angel. Do I get to make a wish?"

Katan rolled his eyes.

"That's only a myth and you know it."

He turned in her arms and encircled his wings around them, which was something the little human seemed to like. And indeed, she was quite a fetching young girl with her strawberry blond tresses that barely reached the small of her back in lustrous waves. Those startling green eyes, the hue of purest jade, and her lithe figure made for the aesthetic appeal that most angels coveted. All in all, he was quite taken with her presence but her disposition was a bit grating at times.

She pouted at his words. He sighed.

"Well Rosiel doesn't seem to need me for a bit so how about I spend a little…quality time with you Sara", he questioned, giving her body a lustful once over. She laughed lightly and allowed him to scoop her up and sweep off to his bedroom.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Kira had finished his business, i.e. looking for a certain Kaito and not finding him. He had scoured the whole of the Honshu district, but Tokyo was a big place and offered many places to hide. Kira had even made an effort to look in at Kaito's favorite haunt, a bar deep in the heart of the city.

Frustrated and feeling slightly inadequate, Kira headed back to Setsuna's house to make the rendezvous and pick up the younger boy. But as he neared the apartment complex, loud crashes and a heightened voice alerted him to trouble that was brewing. He flew up the stairs three at a time until he reached Setsuna on the fourth floor. His blood ran cold; the commotion was issuing from the boy's apartment.

The door was ajar and he had just to nudge it open to see the damage that had been done. If a mother is God in the eyes of a child, then this God was a vengeful one indeed. Setsuna was bent in the fetal position, covering his face loosely with his hands harboring the blankest of expressions in his still visible features. His mother was beating him with everything that was in her near vicinity. When nothing else was around to be thrown, she began bludgeoning him with her fists and her feet. Her screams echoed in that emptiness that was Setsuna's hell.

"It was you! You are the cause of my pain and you always have been. You take after your father. Both beasts! Both incestual beasts! You were the one who pushed my darling Sara out the door with your filthy intentions!"

She stopped screaming to beat him a little more and then continued when she had caught her breath.

"You are not even fit to lick the filth off her beautiful feet. You should have left, not her. Anyone but her! You don't deserve to live! Just die! No one will miss you….Die! Damn you!"

"I know mother. I know. I'm sorry."

His words came out in just above a whisper. His mother's shrieks at this point were barely intelligible. Her voice suddenly softened drastically, and she bent down to whisper words like poison honey into Setsuna's ear.

"I could make it quick and easy. It is my duty as your mother to give nothing but the very best to my son."

She smiled as she whispered these venomous words and seemed to manifest a meat cleaver in her hand out of nowhere. Her son laid there waiting patiently to be butchered as she raised the cleaver an instant before Kira reacted. Sudden insatiable fury coursed through his veins in that moment like the coldest of hell fires. It was the most consuming thing he had ever felt, even when set side by side with his loathing of Rosiel.

He had been rooted to the spot in shock that a mother could even act this way. Kira had never had a mother but he had always imagined them as being kind and caring. A figure one could place their love and trust in, not this demon of vengeance that knelt before him now about to carve her own son open.

As a child, Kira had only had his father, and his father had always strived for the best in him and for him as a single parent. Certainly not a soccer dad, but he had been someone that Kira had always been able to go to in this life.

She swiped down, fast and hard. But with an expert maneuver Kira got to her before she let the blow fall. He caught her at the wrist and lifted her bodily off her feet. He squeezed her on the bone joint hard enough to disengage the weapon she clung to, but not hard enough to shatter her wrist like he so desperately wanted to do to the rest of her.

She met his gaze undaunted, lifting her chin and somehow managing to look down her nose belligerently at him, though he was a good four feet taller than her.

"Who are you? What authority do you have here? What do you want?"

He grit his teeth and brushed off her barrage of questions, pressing forward with his own statement.

"If you ever touch Setsuna like that again, or even think of speaking to him in such a vulgar fashion I will make personally sure that it's that last thing you ever do. This I can promise you. Now, I'm coming back here tomorrow, and with Setsuna's permission, I'm going to help him gather his clothes and such. I'll take your son off your hands for you since you can't seem to suffer the his presence."

The glitter of malice in her eyes was almost enough to cause him to lose control and backhand her right there and then. But, gritting his teeth once more, he managed to resist. He released her arm and bent to gather Setsuna's again crumpled body into his arms. He stepped out of the threshold again. She kept silent the whole time.

Then, right before he was out of earshot she shrieked:

"Fine! Take him! But if he returns here without you he dies! You fucking faggot! You both deserve to die…Burn in your own Hell!"

She continued her verbal onslaught from afar and Kira shrugged it off. He smiled and with regret muttered a, "Yeah, I only wish lady", under his breath.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

They were back at Kira's pad before long. He was still boiling over in fury and indignation. The older boy couldn't even fathom how a mother could pull that crap.

Setsuna had fallen asleep in his protector's arms. Kira felt warmed that Setsuna felt safe enough to be completely trusting with him. But his warm fuzzies were short lived as he set about preparing to dress wounds on a body that should never have been inflicted with such earthly things.

The younger boy's injuries from the previous night were opened again and the new ones springing up looked just as vicious. He kicked his door open, though not roughly enough to waken Setsuna. Setting the frail boy down on his bed he made a quick trip to his bathroom.

He would not bandage the kid until after he was clean. In the proverbial sense, even Kira felt dirty after witnessing the treatment Setsuna must have had to deal with on a regular basis. If he could scrub off some of the blood, maybe the ice around the other boy's heart would melt a little.

"Stop being silly, you just want to see him naked."

He cringed at himself for the half-truth then bent down and twisted the knob, watching as the water ran languidly into the deep basin. He was temporarily lost in his own thoughts until the tub was nearly full. He cranked the knob again so that the faucet would stop running and was satisfied with the billowing perfection.

Kira went back to Setsuna and stripped the clothes carefully off of his scarred body. Then, scooping him up the older boy gently placed his angel into the warmth that would soothe his aching form. Setsuna automatically shuddered and gasped as he slid into the steaming water. With the tenderest of expressions Kira left him to fetch fresh clothes and a towel. He was called back however, as Setsuna whimpered. Kira knelt by the western style bathtub in concern.

Blue eyes fluttered open and he parted his lips as if to say something but only a hoarse whisper issued forth.

"What is it Setsuna? What do you need?"

"Stay with me…"

Kira's heart felt like it had just skipped a beat as he traced out the words that the younger boy mouthed weakly. He smiled, thinking he must have imagined it and made to get up but Setsuna reached out and clutched at his sleeve with all of the meager strength he could muster, willing his senpai not to leave his side. Kira cupped Setsuna's face in his hands and took a moment to study every feature of the fallen angel's face.

His bruised lips were slightly parted and the steam from the water accumulated becomingly on his body. His eyes were shut and the lashes casted delicate shadows over the blemished ivory of his skin. Kira's breath hitched. The damp blond hair hung like heavy spun gold, cascading down around Setsuna's flushed face. No longer able to stand it, Kira leaned forward and ghosted a kiss against Setsuna's lips, damning himself and the consequences he knew would have to be paid later. 


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

The pristine chamber echoed with the cries of the assembled angels. White marble pillars, usually so pure and serene, threatened to crumble as one angry voice rose above them all.

"Be silent!"

A sweeping hush, their obedience was almost obscene.

Sevortharte swept them all with such a cold glare that the congregation shivered. "This is blasphemy", he hissed behind his ever present mask. "You would deny the verdict of the chosen? I will _not_ be spoken against on this."

Mumbles arose like a sickening haze of uncertainty.

"No my lord."

"Praise the almighty."

"All hail the highest order."

One did not sing the ruler's praises. One refused to lick the toe of this crooked angel. One stepped forward.

"My lord."

The angel was perfect—all had to be to reside in this section of Heaven—as she stood tall and pulled away from the crowd to address the prime minister. Even if she was still a fresh cadet, this particular angel held enough spunk to foil some of his minor meddling's. She was a woman, after all.

_Perfect, _Sevortharte snarled in his mind. _And the most treacherous of God's creations. _

"My lord…" This time she bowed in a flurry of feathers. The motion was anything but pious. "It has indeed been confirmed that the Regent was resurrected. The council only asks—"

"I rule this council! Until God tells me otherwise, I will hold this chair."

The silence was louder than the previous clamber had been; this alone spoke for itself. They were scared. The ranks were in disarray and Sevortharte had stepped in when it had been needed. But now…now he was _too_ powerful. Metatron was still much too young to see properly to his duties.

Lifting her chin, the angel laughed gently. Too young…or too drugged? She knew Sevortharte's motives; what he did and how he treated their little lord when no one was watching.

"I beg you to reconsider. If Rosiel has awoken then he is surely on his way he—"

"God hasn't given his permission for that reject's entry."

"Oh…but he has."

Even Sevortharte's blasé mask chinked a little. "Where is your—"

The angel held up her hand and there in the center a seal shone through. "This is the proof of their unspoken covenant. I am the one who is to deliver it."

Murmurs of surprise smattered through the crowd with the occasional rustle of wings; an elevating stain on his perfect authority.

"Kirie…"

"I'm going now sir. And when the _true_ regent returns, I hope he will grant you the same clemency he has presented to us all. May he show you the error of your ways." Her eyes narrowed at the pointed glare that would have burned a hole through any normal subordinate. "Prepare yourself Sevortharte."

The prime minister blustered and exploded to his feet, his robes fanning outward with the potency of his fury.

Kirie winked at him and burst into flight, never looking back as she opened the portal and took the plunge that would lead her to earth.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Setsuna tensed up as much as his battered muscles would let him. His head was already healed—he'd always healed like a freak; fast, and…not even a scar remained—but his vision still swam, from the heat or the sensation of Kira being so close he wasn't exactly sure. He blinked as condensation collected in sparkling beads on his eyelashes. Was this real?

But… he didn't want to think. Not right now, it hurt too much.

Setsuna's hand convulsed as he wound the dark-chocolate tresses tighter around his fingers.

Kira winced, realizing just how much pressure he was putting on the smaller boy and moved back to try and stand. He needed to put some distance between them. This was a mistake.

_You are mine Nanatsusaya. _

His clothes were much too tight. He wanted to peel them away. It was hot in here, stifling. And he wanted the temperature to rise. Anything to carve her voice from his heart and keep Setsuna near him a little longer. Anything so he wouldn't have to think.

So that his rationale couldn't make him wake up and push Setsuna away. Resolved, Kira sighed and leaned back to balance himself to rise. He only got so far.

Setsuna used his senpai's hair as leverage. With a surprising burst of strength, Setsuna tugged Kira's head closer again. The older boy frowned for an instant before reaching up and cupping Setsuna's cheek, angling his face so that their lips could swirl and grind.

Thoughts were heresy in this heat, in this moist closeness. Rationality was the sin.

The motions of Kira's tongue mimicked the caresses he wanted to lavish on the rest of Setsuna's bruised flesh, for all the wrong reasons.

Why did this feel so good?

Wasn't he supposed to protect Alexiel's host?

Wasn't it Alexiel he wanted most?

Wasn't it…?

Kira shuddered and breathed into Setsuna's kiss as the younger boy whimpered against his lips.

The blonde gripped the lapels of Kira's soggy dress shirt and pulled him closer. It was imperative that they not separate now. Both held in gasps that would have torn their lips apart. Not even breathing was as important as rubbing their mouths together, nipping the other's tongue—all sensation, all that made _existing _worth something gathered and tingled at where their bodies were taking from each other.

Setsuna's quivering increased and the brunette damned himself for that last little shred of sanity that kicked him in the back of the skull.

Kira pulled away with his eyes still closed, frowning like the separation was painful on a physical level as they both heaved for oxygen. The room was now filled with steam from more than just the piping water.

"Setsuna, what…?"

The angel's host withdrew as well, unsure of what to do next. Thankfully Kira read more in the proverbial step back than there first appeared to be. The water rippled around Setsuna's naked body as he shuddered from the giddiness that trickled through his veins.

Kira watched the expressions change on Setsuna's face. For once he couldn't read them. "Do you still want me to stay?"

Neither had a chance to answer, because at that moment the doorbell trilled. Kira jumped on the opportunity; Setsuna was too fragile to handle all this new emotion right now. Yeah, Setsuna could use some time to mull things over.

He-directed-at-himself-none-too-subtly.

Turning on his heel, Kira stalked toward the door, ignoring Setsuna's weak protests. He'd been a beast many times in his ageless past, but for now he would ride herd on himself.

Tapping his palm against his ear to release the trapped water, Kira wrapped his hand around the cool knob. With a small yelp, he pulled back at the different sensation. It was startling and almost painful compared to the heat he'd just been cocooned in.

Snarling at himself for what wasn't the first time, Kira yanked the door open as far as it would go with such force that the hinges creaked in protest. The chain rattled like an unspoken threat as Kira peered through the crack.

Kaito stood there, shivering, with his pale knuckles bunched into the fabric of his shirt. His eyes were wild as he pushed against the opening.

"Lemme in man. He's after me."

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Who did you piss off now?"

"Just open the damn door man, come on."

With a sigh, the brunette complied if only to milk Kaito's distraction for all it was worth. "What's up", he asked when the blonde was safely inside the landing.

Kaito shook his head and his teeth chattered hard enough that Kira was surprised they didn't crack.

"Hey", he tried again. "Are you okay?"

The blonde convulsed and his eyes widened as he reached up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. "I knew he was trouble. I fucking knew it. Hojo said he had good shit and I should've known it was all a setup. Damn, I was desperate though you know? I—"

Kira held up a hand. "Hold that thought. I'll be right back."

Kaito didn't even notice as he slid down the wall and hugged his knees. Occasionally he'd chew on the pad of his thumb but for the moment he seemed okay…as okay as Kaito could be in at any given moment.

Kira turned and made his way back to the bathroom. Setsuna was in much the same position as Kaito, though he was still as death with his head propped on his knees. He was still trembling and Kira felt like even more of an ass.

He grabbed a towel from the linen closet and cleared his throat to get the smaller boy's attention. "Hey kid, let's get you out of there before you turn all pruney."

Setsuna looked up and there was a faint glimmer in his eye at the brunette's humor. He gave a weak chuckle and reached his arms up. Kira swept down gently and wrapped the towel under his arms before pulling him to his feet with careful slowness.

Setsuna slipped and cried out, clinging to Kira's neck.

"Easy. Easy does it now. I've got you."

The brunette's voice was low and hot as it ghosted against the shell of his ear. Setsuna wanted to shiver and it slid over his skin like warm syrup.

His arms tightened instinctively and Kira wanted to sigh in appreciation. But he didn't. Instead, he supported Setsuna for a couple of steps. The younger boy stumbled and Kira hissed a breath out through his teeth. When they were steady again, Kira bent down and took a surreptitious breathe against Setsuna's neck. Smiling, he straightened again.

"Hold on."

Setsuna gasped as Kira tensed then swept the blonde into a bridal hold.

"O-oi! Put me down! I'm not a girl Kira."

"No", he agreed. "You're a Setsuna. Far more fragile at times."

Setsuna growled and squirmed for a minute but settled when Kira started to move. The next thing he was aware of was sinking into warm, feather soft blankets. Setsuna sighed in appreciation until something blacked out his vision. He spluttered and removed the object, only to find another pair of sweats. He looked up at Kira again whose arms were crossed as he leaned against the wall.

The blonde sat up and looked at the pants bunched in his hands. Shifting, he sat up and moved the towel only to remember that Kira was standing right in front of him. He placed the towel back over him and shot a glance up at the older boy.

"What?"

"Well….?"

Kira snorted. "I thought you weren't a girl."

Setsuna's face exploded with color and he growled as the brunette held his hands up. "Fine, fine."

Kira turned to face the wall, his arms still crossed. Face still flaming, Setsuna swept the towel back and regretted the cold at once. His head spun and the nausea returned full force. He choked, hating himself because Kira turned at the sound.

The taller boy was across the room in little more than three strides as he laid Setsuna back on the pillows.

"Stop it! Kira, I'm not—"

"Boy don't make me gag you."

Setsuna lapsed into awkward silence as Kira tossed the towel over his chair and shifted Setsuna's legs. He almost wanted to close his eyes but the sight was too tempting. Those legs; long, supple, and all too right as he imagined them wrapped around his hips. The creamy thighs that were his to command…

Kira swallowed and felt extremely proud of himself when he glanced down and found that the sweat pants were securely about Setsuna's person. Smaller Kira was standing at full attention now in a very subtle sort of way. Setsuna hadn't noticed yet. The blonde underneath him gave Kira a look then grabbed hold of his shoulders and yanked again. With an _oof, _Kira flopped on top of Setsuna then scrambled to pick his weight up.

He was too late. Setsuna swallowed a groan of pain and the blush on his face was apparent enough. He knew. But Kira took some comfort in the fact that he wasn't alone. Setsuna opened his eyes to level a glower at the older boy teetering above him.

"You suck Kira."

Kira subdued the urge to agree as Setsuna sat up. The brunette tried to sit back again but Setsuna was having none of it. He sank his teeth into the pale flesh at the base of Kira's throat. Before he knew what he was doing, Kira tensed and sank down again, wrapping his arms around Setsuna and moulding their bodies together.

The younger boy groaned and the sound made the flesh still being worked between his teeth tingle and burn.

"Sets…"

He dug his nails into Kira's shoulders. In the gloom, his gentle suckling sounded harsh and loud as it sang through Kira's nerves, setting him on fire.

"Setsun….ngh. Y-you need to sto—"

The brunette allowed himself a small hiss of pleasure before tearing his neck away from Setsuna's questing lips. He tugged his clothes back into place. Leaning back with a glint of satisfaction swimming in those baby blues, Setsuna licked his lips.

Appalled at himself for blushing, Kira turned and made his way to the door. He turned back as he started to close it.

"Get some rest."

Setsuna sighed and waved his hand in the air as he buried his face into the pillow. Kira left the door open a crack then went back to the landing. Kaito was still there in the same position, right where he'd left him. Though now he was rocking back and forth.

"Oi", Kira grunted to get his friend's attention.

"Oi." Still nothing. Feeling his fraying patience about to snap, Kira stepped closer to kick Kaito's ankle. The blonde yelled and scrambled to his feet, thrashing and tensing at random intervals.

"Dude, calm down." Kira grabbed his friend's shoulder and led him into the couch. "Relax and tell me what happened."

Kaito nodded and gulped down the water offered to him. "He was like… I don't even know man. You know how you get those really bad trips sometimes and things look…different?"

Kira nodded, resisting the urge to point out the blaring obviousness of that statement, and stayed silent.

The blonde ignored him and went on. "It was like…he was like an angel. Long silver hair and all. And I swear I saw… like wings or…" Kira's ears pricked and his head snapped up to look more closely at the blonde. "But there were like three or something. I saw him around Setsuna's body earlier too when I brought him over."

Kaito looked around as if remembering something. "Is he still here?"

Kira waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about Setsuna. Just continue."

The blonde scratched his cheek. "Y-yeah. Man, I should have known something was fishy if Hojo cleared him…"

"Kaito", Kira snapped. "Focus dammit."

The other boy twitched and looked around, biting his lip. "He gave me something man. It's supposed to be some good shit. New on the market. You know me when there's a bargain concerned…"

The blonde's body stilled suddenly as he looked down at his clenched fists. "I took his pill. I swallowed it right there and ever since I've been hearing his voice in my head man. He just keeps saying the same thing over and over again. 'Where's Alexiel?'"

Kira's jaw locked. "You always did have more balls than brains Kaito."

The blonde wheezed out a shaky laugh. "I know, I know. But you know, I can't help feeling like he's always watching me too. You know like…. Like he's inside me."

Kira arched a brow at that and Kaito flipped him off. "Not like that you loser. That's your shtick, not mine."

The brunette hummed and leaned back on the couch. Kaito was doomed, and there was nothing he could do about that. The golem would soon take him over completely….he had to protect Setsuna. There was no choice.

Kaito scratched his chin and seemed to calm greatly like just telling someone had lifted a lot of the weight off. Secrets were too heavy, and those that harmed were nearly unbearable.

_Come to me._

The blonde convulsed and his whole body stiffened. He made no sound but his fear was evident. Then, like a sluggish curtain of water, the fear melted to be replaced by perfect neutrality.

_Kaito, come to your master. _

He stood and swiveled his head around the room, seeing with eyes that weren't his own. "I must go."

Kira inclined his head. He knew that voice, the voice of the puppets. The golem had already started. He watched dispassionately as his friend crossed the room and walked out the door without another word. Kaito was stumbling into his own hell now, from his own stupidity.

Kira couldn't say he was particularly surprised. He couldn't say that he was happy about it either.

_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_o_

Setsuna's quiet moans and sighs were almost inaudible against the heavy darkness that cradled his sleeping form. Kira leaned against the wall with his arms crossed again, regarding the sleeping angel.

'_Angel's __**host**_', he corrected himself. Setsuna was no angel.

As quickly as he thought it, he took it back. Setsuna was human yes, but he was what made humans beautiful. He was candid and unafraid. Coarse and natural and comfortable in his fleshy prison. Setsuna was what made God covet his creations and what angels hungered to touch. What devils fought over for the right to claim and corrupt.

Kira clenched his fists against his arms at the irony of this whole situation.

He was a devil. A devil for letting his friends walk toward their destruction. A devil for craving this perfection with all it's imperfections that slept without a care in the world in his bed. A devil who was so quick to abandon his loyalties. A devil who wanted a taste. And a devil that would destroy everything to protect this angel's…

Host.

_**Haha, long wait much? Yeah. I know. I'd say I'm sorry but dammit I'm too effing lazy. As a note, I did devote myself to buying all 20 in the Angel Sanctuary series. And I haz them now. Be jelly yo. If you haven't read her little short, "Boys Next Door" I highly recommend you do so. Kaori Yuki is the shizzlenetzZz **_


End file.
